Cotton-seed conveyer.



W. N. JAMES.

co'r'ron SEED GONVEYER.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 12, 1909. 988 101 Patented Mar. 28, 1911.

2 SHEETSBHEBT 1.

W. N. JAMES. COTTON SEED OONVEYER. APPLICATION FILED NOV.12,1909.

988,101 Patented Mar.28, 1911.

I 2 SHBETSSHBET 2.

1 He: na 1;

GOTTON-SEED GONVEY-ER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 28, 1911.

Application tiled- Nevember 12, 1909. Serial No. 527,694.

To. all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM N. James, a citizen of the United States,residing at Sallisaw, in the county of Sequoyah, State of Oklahoma, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Cotton- Seed Conveyors;and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to. which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to cotton seed conveyors, and more particularlyto an improved mechanism of this type for conveying cotton seed directlyfrom under the gin to the exhaust. discharge flue. Heretofore inremoving cotton seed from gins a. screw conveyor or belt carrier hasbeen more commonly used to convey the seed directly from the gin to thecotton seed discharge flue. The employment of a screw conveyer or beltcarrier is objectionable on account of subsequent choking at the, pointof connection with the discharge flue and besides requiring additionalpower to propel them and the employment of additional pulleys and beltsto transmit the power to the said conveyer or belt carrier all of whichare extremely liable to get out of order.

It is the object oflthis invention to produce a mechanism to be utilizedin lieu oi a screw conveyer or belt carrier which will obviate thechoking common to this device and which will eliminate to a large degreethe employment of a large number of pulleys and belts which requireconstant care and attention.

With the above and other objects in' view the invention consists in thedetails of con struction and in the arrangement and combination of partsto be hereinafter more fully described and set forth in the claim.

In describing the invention in detail ref- :ference will be had to theaccompanying drawings in which like characters denote correspondingparts in the. several views and in which, I

Figure 1 is a sectional elevation illustrating the seed conveyingmechanism in opera tive relation to a battery of cotton gins and anordinary cotton handling apparatus; Fig. 2, a vertical section of theimproved conveyer, a fragmentof the cotton seed discharge flue beingshown in connection there? with; and Fig. 3, a section on the line 3.3

0i Fig. 2.

Referring to the drawings 5 designates a gin-breast. The invent-ion maybe applied to a battery of gins as shown or to one gin only. In each ginis a seedhopper whlch terminates at its lower end in a verticallydisposed casing 6, said casing leading into the cotton seed dischargeflue 7 of the fan 8 the suction of which is-employed to draw seed cottoninto the usual elevator flue 9 from the cotton-house or from thewagon asmay be most convenient. This elevator flue 9 may be communicated withthe gins 5 through ducts 10 and feeders 11 as usual.

The gin, the fan, elevator fine and cotton seed discharge flue may be ofany suitable or ordinary construction and need not be particularlydescribed, as they form no part I of this invention, except incombination with the means for removing cotton seed from the gins to theexhaust flue.

The casing 6 is of rectangular cross section and comprises the sidemembers 12 and 13 and end members 14 and 15. tween the side members 12and 13 transversely of the casing are the inclined members 16 and 17 toform a hopper like construction emptying into the lower portion of thecasing. The top of the casing is closed between the inclined member 16and end member .15 by a top member 18. Another inclined member 19disposed transversely of the casing between the side members 12 and 13has its upper end connected with the lower end of the inclined member 17by an arcuate plate 20. The side members ,12 and 13 of the casing areprovided with corresponding alined circular apertures 21 and 22 whichare. closed respectively by plates 23 and 24, mounted on the sidemembers 12and 13 respectively. Said plates 23 and 24 are providedrespectively with the journal bearings 25 and 26 in which is mounted ashaft 27 and carried on one end thereof is a sprocket wheel 28 adaptedfor connection with any suitable rotating member or members. Mounted onthe shaft 27 between the plates 23 and 24 is a hub 29 which is providedat each end with annular flanges 30 and 30' connected together by aseries of longitudinal slats 31, saidflanges and slats forming what iscommonly known as a pocket cylinder. Disposed Disposed beouter faces ofsaid between plate 23 and disk is an annular rubber packing 32 the outeredge of which extends slightly beyond the periphery of the disk 30. Asimilar packing 32 is disposed between disk 30 and plate 24: While eachof the slats 31 carries at its upper longitudinal edge a packing 33,said packing 33 projecting above said edge throughout its length.

A shaft 33 is mounted between the side members 12 and 13 and carries atone end a depending member 34: from which projects laterallytransversely of the casing, presser plate 35 of arcuate formation so asto be' adapted to frictionally engage the cylindrical wall of thepocket, cylinder; An arm 36 is also fixed upon the shaft 33 at one endthereof and a spring 37 has its upper end secured to the free end ofsaid arm and its lower end secured to the end member of the casing'andis adapted to exert a tension sufficient to rock the shaft 33 and pressthe plate 35 against the cylindrical wall of the pocket cylinder. Itwill thus be obvious from the construction just described that asthepocket cylinder is rotated should there be an overload of cotton seedfed thereto, and a tendency to choke in its passage across the plate 35the pressure exerted by this tendency to c hoke will move said plate '35outwardly against the influence of the spring 37 and permit the overload to pass by into the discharge flue, and after such passage theplate 35 will be automatically returned to its position against thepocket cylinder and prevent the blast of air present in the cotton seeddischarge valve from escaping eaaioi upwardly through any of the gins byway of the compartment occupied by the pocket cylinder.

What is claimed is In combination, a pneumatic discharge, a conduitopening into said discharge, and a valve mechanism located in saidconduit, said valve mechanism comprising a pair of downwardlytaperingmembers connecting opposite sides of the conduit, one of saidmembers having anarcuate extension, a rotary valve closing the spacebetween the lower ends of said members, said valve comprising arotatable hub, a plurality of radial'slats disposed longitudinally ofthe hub, a packing strip secured to each slat along its outerlongitudinal edge and projecting beyond said edge respectively forengagement with the arcuate extension of said member, a shaft journaledbetween opposite sides of said conduit, a plate carried by said shaft,an arm mounted on said shaft, a spring connection. between said arm andone side of the conduit constantly tending to rotate said shaft, wherebythe plate is forced against the packing strips carried by the slats andadapted to be moved outwardly therefrom against the tendency of saidspring connectioniinder the influence of the pressure exerted by anoverload deposited in a pocket of said valve.

In testimony whereof, I afix my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM N. J

Witnesses:

KATE BELL, WM. L. Corns.

